Grain-car door



(NoMod-eh) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1'.

w. MoGUIRE.

I GRAIN GAR DOOR.

@J. Patented Dec. 27, 1887.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2;

W. McGUIRE. GRAIN OAR DOOR.

Patented Dec. 27, 1887.

N. PETERS Phoio'Lilhngnpher, Washingtnm n a .Fig 6, aside elevation of the suspending'hook UNITED STATES PATENT 0FFICEQ.

WILLIAM MCGUIRE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GRAIN-CAR DOOR.

SPECIFICATIONionning part 'of Letters Patent No. 375,499, dated December 27, 1887.

Application filed March 1, 1887.

To wZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM MoGUIRE, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, and a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Grain-Oar Doors, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is an elevation with the roof and floor in' section and showing only so much of a complete car asis required to illustrate the invention; Fig. 2, a section on line a; w of Fig. 1, showing one side of the car only; Fig. 3, a: detail in perspective showing the retainingloop for the door; Fig. 4, a detail in perspective of the guide at the upper end of the retaining-rods; Fig. 5, a detail showing the position of the retaining loop and rod when the door is swung in and up and not completely elevated;

for the door; Fig. 7, a side elevation of the stirrup for the hook of Fig. 6. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of said stirrup; and Figs. 8 and 9, a side and end elevation, respectively, showing a modification in the manner of suspending the hook.

This invention relates to that class of graincar doors in which the door is held in position, so as to be free to be raised or dropped vertically by means of retaining rods and catches, and has for its objects to improve the means by which the door is connected with the retaining-rods, so that the retaining-rods cannot be displaced by partly raising the door and applying force thereto to wrench the rods from place; to improve the means by which the end of the door is guided and held when the door is raised and supported from the roof; to improve the means by whichthe door is held and supported from the roof, and to improve generally the construction and operation of the door and its coacting devices; and its nature consists in the several parts and combi nations of parts, hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims as new.

In the drawings, A represents a grain-car door,which can be of any of the usual and wellknown forms of construction for such doors.

B-are retaining-loops, one for each upper corner of the door. Each loop isof astirrupshape, having an upper portion, b, a lower Serial No. 229,358. (Nomodeh) portion, b, and a connecting end portion, 1), and these parts are curved or bent, so that the arm or portion 12 will be on the outer side of the door and the arm or portion 12 on the in- M side, and the end I) at such a distance from the edge of the door as to leave a space for the retaining-rods, and each loop is attached to the door by a bolt or bolts, a, passing through the arm or portion 12, and a bolt or bolts, a, passing through the arm or portion 2) and through the door.

0 are retaining-rods, one for each side of the door. Each rod at its lower end,as shown, is flattened and curved slightly to furnish a head for the passage of a bolt, 0, which secures the rod at its lower end to the door-post or side of the car, and the upper end of each rod is turned and flattened to form a head or ear, 0, for attachment of the rod at the upper end, and this upper end of each rod is curved or bent, so as to form a goose-neck, O, of the shape shown in Fig. 2, or approximately so.

D are plates, one for each retaining-rod 0. Each plate is attached to the top rail of the car by bolts d, and one of these bolts passes through the ear 0 and secures the upper end of the retaining-rod in place. Each plate D has a curved projection or horn, D, in which is a recess or opening, (2, and the face of which adjacent to the neck 0 has a curvature corresponding to that of the neck, or nearly so, so as to leave a curved passage, (2, between the neck 0 and horn 1), through which the arm or portion 1) of the retaining-loop. B can pass to drop into the recess or opening (I and support the end of the door when raised, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2.

E is a hook for supporting the door when raised. This hook at its upper end has a projection, e, which extends beyond the acting end 6 of the hook, so that as the door is raised it will strike the acting end 6 of the hook and carry the book back to clear the end of the door; and the further raising of the door brings it in contact with the projection e, which throws the acting end 0 of the hook beneath the face of the door, as shown in Fig.

2, supporting the door at that end.

F is a stirrup having two arms or side portions, f, which are flattened, as shown, and a round end portion, f, which forms the pivot for the hook 1t, and, as shown, the hook has in its body an opening, 6, one side of which is cut out, so that the flat arm f of the stirrup or support F can be passed through the hole 6 and the hook carried around to be supported by the round portion f. The stirrup or support F is to be secured to the center rafter of the car orsuch other part depending from the roof as will bring the hook at the center of the door, or nearly so, in use, and in order to attach the stirrup to the rafter the stirrup arms f are provided with openings f for the passage of rails, screws, or bolts.

G are the rafters, of the usual construction, to the center one of which the hook E is attached by the stirrup F. The roof g is supported by the rafters G and longitudinal strips 9, as usual.

H are the top side pieces of the car, to which and the bottom side piece the sheathing h is attached, as usual.

I is the door-post, and, as shown, a lining, 2', is provided for the inside of the car on each side of the doorway.

J are the floor-pieces supporting the floorj, as usual.

K are stops secured to the floor j at each side of the doorway and arranged to engage the corner and hold it against inward Opening until the lower end of the door is raised to clear the stops, and, as shown, each corner of the door in line with the stops is provided with a guard or protection plate,

L are latches, one for each side of the doorway, and attached to the post I by a pin or pivot, Z, to have the acting end of the latch when the door is down engage the top edge of the door and hold it against upward movement from the shaking of the car.

M is a plate on the inside of the door, at the lower end, and having a recess by means of which the door can be started upward, and, as shown, the outside of the door has a notch or recess, 11:, for the same purpose.

The operation is as follows: The door when down is locked and held by the latches L,and to raise the door the latches L are thrown out of engagement and the door started by using a crowbar or other lever inserted from the outside in the recess m and from the inside in the hole in the plate M, and when thelower edge of the door is clear of the catches K it can be raised vertically, the stirrups Bsliding up on the retaining-rod 0 until the passage (1 is reached, when the arm or portion b of the stirrups passes up between the horns D and neck G,around the end of the horn,and into the recess or opening d, when the door can be swung up to have its other end caught by the hook E, so that the door will beheld suspended from the roof by means of the hook at one end and the stirrups and horns D at the other. The door can be lowered by disengaging the hook E, allowing the door to fall, when the stirrups B can be raised from the horns D, allowing the arm or portion 1) of the stirrups to pass down between the irons G and the door-post, and when down the door can be locked by the latches L. The stirrups B,hav-

ing one arm or portion on the outer face of the door and the other arm or portion on the inner face and curved to leave a clear space for the retaining-rods G, furnishes a secure means for holding the door in place, and by curving the stirrups, as shown, so that the portions thereof lie on opposite sides of the retaining-rod, the door cannot be raised and used as a lever to pry or wrench the retaining rods off, becauscwhen the arm I) is in position to bear against the retainingrod to wrench it off, the arm I) bears against the opposite side of the retaining-rod and prevents any strain on the rodby which a leverage could be obtained from the door. The horn D, with its curved face corresponding,or nearly so, with the curve of the neck 0, furnishes a guide for directing the stirrups into the recesses d, and these horns D project but little inside of the car, and by their use a smaller curve can be given to the neck 0, thereby enabling the door to be swung up in a smaller space. The hook E, with its projecting end, a, furnishes ameans for automatically throwing the acting end of the hook beneath the edge of the door when up, as the continued raising of the door forces it against the projection e, which throws the acting end under the edge of the door. The upper corner of the door at each end is cut away on its inner face, so as to leave the corner clear and not come in contact with the edge of the post in raising the door, so that it could be operated as a lever before the arm I) of the stirrup would strike the iron G.

The hook E, instead of being formed as shown in Fig.6 and suspended from a loop or stirrup, F, can be formed, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, with two side bars, having a space be tween them to receive the rafter, to which the hook can be pivoted by a suitable pin or pivot; but with either form of construction the projection e, for throwing the acting end of the hook beneath the edge of the door, is to be used.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A retaining-stirrup for graiircar doors, consisting of the upper and lower arms, I) 1), adapted to be rigidly secured to the door and the curved inclined end I), substantially as described.

2. A car-door,A., having at each upper corner a stirrup, B, comprising the curved inclined end I) and the two arms b I), each rigidly attached to the door, substantially as described.

3. A car-door, A, having at each upper corner a stirrup, B, comprising the curved inclined end I) and the upper and lower arms I) Z), each rigidly attached to the door, in combination with the retaining-rod G, which the arms of the stirrup closely hug when thedoor is moved vertically,substantially as described.

4. A device for holding a grain-car door when elevated, consisting of the plate D, hav- IOC ing the horn D, provided with a curved exterior surface, and a recess, d, combined with a retainingrod, G, for guiding the door, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the horn D, having a curved exterior surface and a recess, 65, of the retaining-rod O, for guidingacar-door, having the neck 0 curved in front of the born to provide the curved passage d, substantially as described.

6. A grain-car door, A, and stirrups B, each having arms b b and end piece, b, in combination with the retaining-rods G, necks C, and horns D, having the recess or notch d, for holding and supporting the car-door, substantially as specified.

7. The retaining-rod 0, having the neck 0 and horn D, having the notch or recess d, in combination with the stirrup B, for guiding and supporting the stirrup in raising and supporting a grain-car door, substantially as specified. 8. The combination, with agrain-car door and stirrup, F, of the latch E, having the upper and lower projections e e, for engagement with the door to automatically throw the acting end of the hook under the edge of the door, substantially as specified. A

9. A grain-car door, A, stirrups B, and retaining-rods in combination with the necks 0 G, horns D, having the recess or notch d, and

WILLIAM MCGUIRE.

Witnesses:

ALBERT H. ADAMS, HARRY T. JoNEs. 

